TruthTramp

the south wind blows and blows
i tumble like a weed
down alleys and playgrounds
my brother and i once roved
and isn’t it something
i can still walk straight home
from that school under the shadow
of the Hobbs water tower
the plastic bags and trash have lined the fence
of long lost echoes
of penny drops and fist fights
monkey bar domes

i can, without remembering the way
stroll straight home
and it’s always been like that
for me
though many times i’ve stumbled
i’ve never really taken a wrong turn

i’m standing in the reflection
of the window in your front door

and i’ll tell you sir, i’ve come a very long way
just to return
to a home that’s no longer mine
but yours
a house full of ghosts
were they there or were they hers?
are they haunting you like they haunt me?
perhaps they are both of yours
i think you at least once
knew her
somewhere around nine months before
November of nineteen eighty two

i remember the smell
it’s very particular
i remember that climbing tree
the one closest to the street
and maybe if no one else ever does
at least that tree
remembers me

at this point i must confess
i came to deliver truth
no less
like i’ve always been
inconvenient
just like those deep secrets
in the end we can all compare notes
at who suffered
the most
deception, infidelity
or just bad timing
a deep secret
busting at the seems
that eventually
will set us all free
(December 2010 Hobbs USA)